Love can Change You 7
A/N: Just to redirect: Refina has blonde hair in a ponytail and blue eyes, not black hair and black eyes. I kinda pictured her in my head. *shuffles feet* Anyway, when you last left, it took a battle of momentous proportion to make Dilandau accept Hitomi into the Dragonslayers. I don't know if Refina is the vengeful type, but she is in MY story! Now life gets epic for our heroine, as. Well, you'll see.
The air was clear that day.
The birds soared and danced through the sky and a wind from the nearby sea swept the grass with a gentle hand. It was in neutral territory and the Vione considered itself safe here.
The great fortress hung motionless in mid air, letting the breeze coil around its levastones like ivy. It was silent and peaceful. It brought no harm to this peaceful land. It would have liked nothing better than to remain peaceful for the moment.
But that was not to be.
Like a swarm of vengeful sharks, three levaships bearing the mark of the Asturian navy raced at full speed through the peaceful air. Their objective: the Vione.
In the lead was the Crusade, led by Allen Schezar himself. They had come to retrieve something very important. Something that could spell the difference between victory and defeat.
Onboard the Vione, warning sirens blared. A general call to arms was sounded and soldiers raced to their posts and prepared to repel an attack. All guymelef pilots ran to their units and prepared to launch.
Folken observed the approaching threat with no surprise whatsoever. He'd known that Van would come sooner or later, when he found out her potential. 'So you want her to control fate for you, hmmm brother?' The Strategos smiled coldly. 'Come and take her. If you can.'
Turning he heard an officer ordering the Dragonslayers to their 'melefs. "Belay that order".
The officer turned and stared at Folken. "Are you serious sir?"
Folken nodded. "Order them to take up positions at the hangar bay and to prepare to receive attacks from foot troops."
"But what about enemy guymelefs?"
"Guymelefs are too cumbersome to be of much use in an assault on the interior of a floating fortress. The slayers will be much more effective if on the ground."
The officer nodded. "Yes sir." And he turned to change the orders.
Folken turned back to watch the air assault unfold. Small boats were unloading from the motherships and sped towards the Vione. Each boat carried a full complement of Asturia's fighting men. He merely shrugged. They'd be no match for the Slayers. Then he frowned slightly as he saw Escaflowne in dragon mode swoop forward to join the attack. What if Hitomi still felt something for Van? He shook his head. What was he worrying about? Van's reaction to Hitomi fighting for Zaibach would ensure that they stay apart.
The cyborg then turned and left the bridge. He'd left some bread in the oven and he really should check up on it.
*** A/N: Folken's not very worried, is he? ***
"ATTENTION! ATTENTION! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! ALL TROOPS PREPARE TO REPEL INVADERS! DRAGONSLAYERS REPORT TO THE HANGAR! REPEAT: WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!!!"
The alarm woke Hitomi from a peaceful sleep and she fell out of bed in shock. "Ow!" She yelled. Then she got up, really mad. "Can't someone get some fucking sleep around here?" She rubbed her wrist. Viole had wrapped it up tight last night, but the celebration party had been in full swing and she'd only managed to get to bed about.Hitomi checked the clock. "One hour and twenty minutes?!?!?!"
Chesta had heard her, as he was about to burst into the room and, winced. She was obviously in a bad mood. He pitied anyone who went up against her today! He opened the door carefully to see Hitomi buckling on the rest of her armour. "Hurry up! We've got to get moving!"
"Alright, alright!" She grabbed for a sword. And remembered that she didn't have one yet. "FUCK!"
Chesta handed her a spare. "Here, now hurry!" Without waiting, he ran to join the fight, Hitomi close behind.
When they got to the bay, it was a total free-for-all.
Zaibachian troops clashed with Asturian soldiers, all the while, the Dragonslayers stayed together, protecting each other's backs. Dilandau was going hammer and tongs with Allen, and there was no sign of Escaflowne or Van. Van...
'If I'd heard that name two weeks ago I'd blush and giggle. Now it does nothing.' Hitomi pushed that thought out of her mind and hurled herself into the fray.
She jumped from the catwalk and landed hard on her feet. When she recovered, she was defending herself from a tall soldier.
They fought for a few minutes before Hitomi jump-kicked his chest. He stumbled backwards into the light from the open bay doors. When she saw who it was, she just stared. "Gaddes??"
Allen's lieutenant recognised Hitomi too. His reaction was different. He jumped back and yelled, "I found her!" at the top of his lungs. This brought another ten soldiers towards them.
Faced by a ring of hostile steel, Hitomi fell back slowly. On trooper was too eager and lunged before the others were fully ready to back him up. He ended up with a long slash wound to the chest. He fell back screaming while the others closed the gap.
Gaddes advanced cautiously, his sword first. "There's nowhere to run Hitomi. Make it easy on the rest of us and give up."
She just stared. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"We have orders to take you back to Asturia. I'd prefer it if we didn't have to hurt you in the process."
"I think I'm happy here."
Gaddes shook his head. "Not for long". To his men, he said, "Try not to hurt her too much!" And then the whole troop advanced.
She couldn't believe this! "So let me get this straight. I leave of my own accord, so Van and Allen go to all this trouble, hunting me down like a slave, just to get me back?" She snarled. "There's just one problem."
Gaddes lowered his sword a fraction. "What's that?"
"You've REALLY pissed me off!"
Contrary to everything the soldiers knew about women, Hitomi attacked. In a second she was among her enemy, cutting and slicing. Then she was free and running towards the Slayer's line.
She almost made it when something struck her from the right. She tripped and fell, rolling to the left away from her assailant. Like a professional soldier, she ended up on her feet, sword in hand, flipping mad, and ready to face her opponent. She was completely unprepared for what she saw.
He just stood there. His dark hair was blown round his face by the wind and his red shirt showed rips in places from fights. But he looked the same.
Her mouth moved. It spoke. "Van?"
The king just stood, watching her, and Hitomi wondered if he'd heard her. Then she noticed his eyes. They were no longer the warm soft globes she remembered. They were cold and hard, like steel or ice. Hitomi shivered. What could have changed him in so short a time?
She almost died for her inattention. The second her mind was off him, he raised his sword and, like a flash of light, thrust it straight at her throat. If she'd had been the original Hitomi, she would have died on the spot. The new Hitomi was a soldier, however. And a soldier knows that to lose focus on an enemy is to kill yourself.
Almost too late, she threw herself aside. When she hit the ground, she clutched at the deep wound in the side of her neck. She looked up and saw Van standing over her.
"You betrayed me Hitomi." His voice was cold and hard.
She gasped air and winced in agony. "What are you talking about?" She managed, voice labouring.
"Don't give me that!" He was angry. Angry over injustices real and imagined. "You were my best friend! I trusted you. Then you left and I found out you had gone over to THEIR side!" He shook his head. "I don't know why you hate me Hitomi, but this ends now. I won't let you help Zaibach destroy Gaea."
Hitomi stared as the last link of her time with Van broke. She smiled bitterly. "I betrayed you?" She laughed, coughing up blood. "You betrayed me! I loved you! I gave my heart to you! And what did you do?" Tears mingled with her blood. "You ripped my heart out of my chest! You destroyed my reasons for staying with you! THAT'S why I left! Not because of any of Dornkirk's magic. Because you left me no choice!"
Van shook his head slowly. "Your lies end this day. You didn't love me then and you don't love me now." He raised his sword over his head, preparing to stab. "Goodbye Hitomi".
Suddenly he went flying as something hit him from behind. Two somethings actually. Chesta had body-checked from behind and Dilandau jumped over Hitomi, attacking Van aggressively. "Get away from my Slayers, Van!" He yelled.
Chesta knelt down by Hitomi. She could barely see him, her vision was so soft. "Viole! Get over here! Hurry!" He yelled. She lost consciousness.
***
The green-haired slayer ran over at top speed, his supply of bandages out and unrolling even as he moved. He took one look at the patient and grimaced.
"It's not good." He told the fearful Chesta. But I'll see what I can do." He quickly pulled out a strip of cloth from his bag, wet in alcohol, and carefully washed Hitomi's wound. It revealed a long ugly wound that stretched from the front of her neck to the back. As he packed the wound with cotton he explained. "It missed her wind pipe and her throat, at least. But it grazed her major neck artery. It didn't cut through all the way, but she's lost a lot of blood even so."
"Will she live?" Chesta was going hysterical.
"Viole shook his head. "It's too soon to tell."
***
Dilandau had gone insane again. He was hacking at Van with reckless abandonment. "You bastard!" He hissed. "If you've killed her, I swear you'll beg for death! And I'll give it to you! One step at a time! And THEN you'll pay for my face!"
Van was about to retort, but a call rose up among the invaders.
"Fall back! For your lives, FALL BACK!"
The Asturians began to retreat to their ships and the Zaibachians cheered and pressed them harder. The Slayers gathered round their fallen comrade and formed a wall to protect her.
Van gave one last cold look at Hitomi, then turned and ran back to Escaflowne.
"Coward! Face me Van!" Miguel and Dalet had to physically restrain their captain, though they did so with great trepidation. Eventually he calmed down, and hurried over to see how Hitomi was. Miguel and Dalet followed more slowly.
"He forgot to slap us!" Dalet kept his voice down.
Miguel looked at his leader. "Call me crazy. But I could swear he cares about her!"
Dalet stopped and stared. "You ARE crazy, man!"
***
When Dilandau came to Viole, the medical officer had just finished wrapping a bandage around Hitomi's throat. "How is she?"
Viole repeated what he'd been saying for some time. "It's too soon to tell." He hesitated. "She'll probably need a blood transfer."
The slayers all clamoured to be the one to donate. "SILENCE!" Silence. Dilandau spoke slowly and determinedly. "I will do it." Even more silence. It made him uncomfortable. "Hey! I don't let my slayers die!" Still more silence. It was starting to tick him off. Just as he was about to slap them all for insolence a sound not unlike a terrified cat echoed through the hangar. The slayers (the only ones still in the hangar) all turned to the noise and saw why it sounded like a terrified cat.
Guimel had apparently been looking for leftover soldiers, but had flushed out a cat girl instead. Quickly he had grabbed her, provoking the scream and a storm of scratches.
"Hey! Ow! That hurt! No scratching! Shit! Quit biting! Knock it off! Ouch!"
"Help! Let me go! I'll claw your eyes out! Lord Van! Allen! Gaddes! LORD VAN, HELP ME!"
The screams (some of pain) had woken Hitomi. Blearily, she recognised that voice. "Merle.?" Then her eyes rolled back and she fainted again.
While Chesta caught her, Dilandau and a few others strolled up to the cat girl. Her ears twitched and she gave up trying to kill Guimel. Instead she cowered in fear.
Dilandau turned his Tyrant's eye on her. She trembled and clutched to Guimel for support. Guimel seemed to like it.
"So, unless I miss my guess, we've got Fanel's pet cat with us." He leaned down into her face. "What's your name girl?" She just cowered even further. "TELL ME!"
"Uh sir? I believe Hitomi called her Merle." Gatti spoke up. Dilandau nodded. "You may be right." He looked at Guimel. "She seems to like you. Take her down to holding cell 9."
Guimel nodded and carried Merle who was almost unconscious with terror. Dilandau then turned to the rest of them. "Well? What are you waiting for? Get her to the med-bay and prepare for a blood transfusion!" The Slayers scattered, most following Chesta who carried Hitomi out.
Dilandau sighed to himself. "Good help is so hard to find these days!"
*** As the Crusade powered away from the Zaibach floating fortress, Allen was very upset with Van's actions. "You weren't supposed to kill her! You were supposed to capture her!" The angry knight faced the impassive king.
Van just drank some wine. "She's better off dead anyway."
Allen stared at him. "Are you crazy? We need her to win this war!" His friend shrugged. "What's got into you? You were opposed to this plan yesterday!"
Van gave the blank look of a puppet. "I've found new truth."
A/N: Dun, dun, dun. What does Van mean by that? What's going to happen to Merle? Thank you Trio Maxwell for your ideas concerning her! What will happen next? Find out next time. On Escaflowne! And always review!
A/N: Just to redirect: Refina has blonde hair in a ponytail and blue eyes, not black hair and black eyes. I kinda pictured her in my head. *shuffles feet* Anyway, when you last left, it took a battle of momentous proportion to make Dilandau accept Hitomi into the Dragonslayers. I don't know if Refina is the vengeful type, but she is in MY story! Now life gets epic for our heroine, as. Well, you'll see.
The air was clear that day.
The birds soared and danced through the sky and a wind from the nearby sea swept the grass with a gentle hand. It was in neutral territory and the Vione considered itself safe here.
The great fortress hung motionless in mid air, letting the breeze coil around its levastones like ivy. It was silent and peaceful. It brought no harm to this peaceful land. It would have liked nothing better than to remain peaceful for the moment.
But that was not to be.
Like a swarm of vengeful sharks, three levaships bearing the mark of the Asturian navy raced at full speed through the peaceful air. Their objective: the Vione.
In the lead was the Crusade, led by Allen Schezar himself. They had come to retrieve something very important. Something that could spell the difference between victory and defeat.
Onboard the Vione, warning sirens blared. A general call to arms was sounded and soldiers raced to their posts and prepared to repel an attack. All guymelef pilots ran to their units and prepared to launch.
Folken observed the approaching threat with no surprise whatsoever. He'd known that Van would come sooner or later, when he found out her potential. 'So you want her to control fate for you, hmmm brother?' The Strategos smiled coldly. 'Come and take her. If you can.'
Turning he heard an officer ordering the Dragonslayers to their 'melefs. "Belay that order".
The officer turned and stared at Folken. "Are you serious sir?"
Folken nodded. "Order them to take up positions at the hangar bay and to prepare to receive attacks from foot troops."
"But what about enemy guymelefs?"
"Guymelefs are too cumbersome to be of much use in an assault on the interior of a floating fortress. The slayers will be much more effective if on the ground."
The officer nodded. "Yes sir." And he turned to change the orders.
Folken turned back to watch the air assault unfold. Small boats were unloading from the motherships and sped towards the Vione. Each boat carried a full complement of Asturia's fighting men. He merely shrugged. They'd be no match for the Slayers. Then he frowned slightly as he saw Escaflowne in dragon mode swoop forward to join the attack. What if Hitomi still felt something for Van? He shook his head. What was he worrying about? Van's reaction to Hitomi fighting for Zaibach would ensure that they stay apart.
The cyborg then turned and left the bridge. He'd left some bread in the oven and he really should check up on it.
*** A/N: Folken's not very worried, is he? ***
"ATTENTION! ATTENTION! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! ALL TROOPS PREPARE TO REPEL INVADERS! DRAGONSLAYERS REPORT TO THE HANGAR! REPEAT: WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!!!"
The alarm woke Hitomi from a peaceful sleep and she fell out of bed in shock. "Ow!" She yelled. Then she got up, really mad. "Can't someone get some fucking sleep around here?" She rubbed her wrist. Viole had wrapped it up tight last night, but the celebration party had been in full swing and she'd only managed to get to bed about.Hitomi checked the clock. "One hour and twenty minutes?!?!?!"
Chesta had heard her, as he was about to burst into the room and, winced. She was obviously in a bad mood. He pitied anyone who went up against her today! He opened the door carefully to see Hitomi buckling on the rest of her armour. "Hurry up! We've got to get moving!"
"Alright, alright!" She grabbed for a sword. And remembered that she didn't have one yet. "FUCK!"
Chesta handed her a spare. "Here, now hurry!" Without waiting, he ran to join the fight, Hitomi close behind.
When they got to the bay, it was a total free-for-all.
Zaibachian troops clashed with Asturian soldiers, all the while, the Dragonslayers stayed together, protecting each other's backs. Dilandau was going hammer and tongs with Allen, and there was no sign of Escaflowne or Van. Van...
'If I'd heard that name two weeks ago I'd blush and giggle. Now it does nothing.' Hitomi pushed that thought out of her mind and hurled herself into the fray.
She jumped from the catwalk and landed hard on her feet. When she recovered, she was defending herself from a tall soldier.
They fought for a few minutes before Hitomi jump-kicked his chest. He stumbled backwards into the light from the open bay doors. When she saw who it was, she just stared. "Gaddes??"
Allen's lieutenant recognised Hitomi too. His reaction was different. He jumped back and yelled, "I found her!" at the top of his lungs. This brought another ten soldiers towards them.
Faced by a ring of hostile steel, Hitomi fell back slowly. On trooper was too eager and lunged before the others were fully ready to back him up. He ended up with a long slash wound to the chest. He fell back screaming while the others closed the gap.
Gaddes advanced cautiously, his sword first. "There's nowhere to run Hitomi. Make it easy on the rest of us and give up."
She just stared. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"We have orders to take you back to Asturia. I'd prefer it if we didn't have to hurt you in the process."
"I think I'm happy here."
Gaddes shook his head. "Not for long". To his men, he said, "Try not to hurt her too much!" And then the whole troop advanced.
She couldn't believe this! "So let me get this straight. I leave of my own accord, so Van and Allen go to all this trouble, hunting me down like a slave, just to get me back?" She snarled. "There's just one problem."
Gaddes lowered his sword a fraction. "What's that?"
"You've REALLY pissed me off!"
Contrary to everything the soldiers knew about women, Hitomi attacked. In a second she was among her enemy, cutting and slicing. Then she was free and running towards the Slayer's line.
She almost made it when something struck her from the right. She tripped and fell, rolling to the left away from her assailant. Like a professional soldier, she ended up on her feet, sword in hand, flipping mad, and ready to face her opponent. She was completely unprepared for what she saw.
He just stood there. His dark hair was blown round his face by the wind and his red shirt showed rips in places from fights. But he looked the same.
Her mouth moved. It spoke. "Van?"
The king just stood, watching her, and Hitomi wondered if he'd heard her. Then she noticed his eyes. They were no longer the warm soft globes she remembered. They were cold and hard, like steel or ice. Hitomi shivered. What could have changed him in so short a time?
She almost died for her inattention. The second her mind was off him, he raised his sword and, like a flash of light, thrust it straight at her throat. If she'd had been the original Hitomi, she would have died on the spot. The new Hitomi was a soldier, however. And a soldier knows that to lose focus on an enemy is to kill yourself.
Almost too late, she threw herself aside. When she hit the ground, she clutched at the deep wound in the side of her neck. She looked up and saw Van standing over her.
"You betrayed me Hitomi." His voice was cold and hard.
She gasped air and winced in agony. "What are you talking about?" She managed, voice labouring.
"Don't give me that!" He was angry. Angry over injustices real and imagined. "You were my best friend! I trusted you. Then you left and I found out you had gone over to THEIR side!" He shook his head. "I don't know why you hate me Hitomi, but this ends now. I won't let you help Zaibach destroy Gaea."
Hitomi stared as the last link of her time with Van broke. She smiled bitterly. "I betrayed you?" She laughed, coughing up blood. "You betrayed me! I loved you! I gave my heart to you! And what did you do?" Tears mingled with her blood. "You ripped my heart out of my chest! You destroyed my reasons for staying with you! THAT'S why I left! Not because of any of Dornkirk's magic. Because you left me no choice!"
Van shook his head slowly. "Your lies end this day. You didn't love me then and you don't love me now." He raised his sword over his head, preparing to stab. "Goodbye Hitomi".
Suddenly he went flying as something hit him from behind. Two somethings actually. Chesta had body-checked from behind and Dilandau jumped over Hitomi, attacking Van aggressively. "Get away from my Slayers, Van!" He yelled.
Chesta knelt down by Hitomi. She could barely see him, her vision was so soft. "Viole! Get over here! Hurry!" He yelled. She lost consciousness.
***
The green-haired slayer ran over at top speed, his supply of bandages out and unrolling even as he moved. He took one look at the patient and grimaced.
"It's not good." He told the fearful Chesta. But I'll see what I can do." He quickly pulled out a strip of cloth from his bag, wet in alcohol, and carefully washed Hitomi's wound. It revealed a long ugly wound that stretched from the front of her neck to the back. As he packed the wound with cotton he explained. "It missed her wind pipe and her throat, at least. But it grazed her major neck artery. It didn't cut through all the way, but she's lost a lot of blood even so."
"Will she live?" Chesta was going hysterical.
"Viole shook his head. "It's too soon to tell."
***
Dilandau had gone insane again. He was hacking at Van with reckless abandonment. "You bastard!" He hissed. "If you've killed her, I swear you'll beg for death! And I'll give it to you! One step at a time! And THEN you'll pay for my face!"
Van was about to retort, but a call rose up among the invaders.
"Fall back! For your lives, FALL BACK!"
The Asturians began to retreat to their ships and the Zaibachians cheered and pressed them harder. The Slayers gathered round their fallen comrade and formed a wall to protect her.
Van gave one last cold look at Hitomi, then turned and ran back to Escaflowne.
"Coward! Face me Van!" Miguel and Dalet had to physically restrain their captain, though they did so with great trepidation. Eventually he calmed down, and hurried over to see how Hitomi was. Miguel and Dalet followed more slowly.
"He forgot to slap us!" Dalet kept his voice down.
Miguel looked at his leader. "Call me crazy. But I could swear he cares about her!"
Dalet stopped and stared. "You ARE crazy, man!"
***
When Dilandau came to Viole, the medical officer had just finished wrapping a bandage around Hitomi's throat. "How is she?"
Viole repeated what he'd been saying for some time. "It's too soon to tell." He hesitated. "She'll probably need a blood transfer."
The slayers all clamoured to be the one to donate. "SILENCE!" Silence. Dilandau spoke slowly and determinedly. "I will do it." Even more silence. It made him uncomfortable. "Hey! I don't let my slayers die!" Still more silence. It was starting to tick him off. Just as he was about to slap them all for insolence a sound not unlike a terrified cat echoed through the hangar. The slayers (the only ones still in the hangar) all turned to the noise and saw why it sounded like a terrified cat.
Guimel had apparently been looking for leftover soldiers, but had flushed out a cat girl instead. Quickly he had grabbed her, provoking the scream and a storm of scratches.
"Hey! Ow! That hurt! No scratching! Shit! Quit biting! Knock it off! Ouch!"
"Help! Let me go! I'll claw your eyes out! Lord Van! Allen! Gaddes! LORD VAN, HELP ME!"
The screams (some of pain) had woken Hitomi. Blearily, she recognised that voice. "Merle.?" Then her eyes rolled back and she fainted again.
While Chesta caught her, Dilandau and a few others strolled up to the cat girl. Her ears twitched and she gave up trying to kill Guimel. Instead she cowered in fear.
Dilandau turned his Tyrant's eye on her. She trembled and clutched to Guimel for support. Guimel seemed to like it.
"So, unless I miss my guess, we've got Fanel's pet cat with us." He leaned down into her face. "What's your name girl?" She just cowered even further. "TELL ME!"
"Uh sir? I believe Hitomi called her Merle." Gatti spoke up. Dilandau nodded. "You may be right." He looked at Guimel. "She seems to like you. Take her down to holding cell 9."
Guimel nodded and carried Merle who was almost unconscious with terror. Dilandau then turned to the rest of them. "Well? What are you waiting for? Get her to the med-bay and prepare for a blood transfusion!" The Slayers scattered, most following Chesta who carried Hitomi out.
Dilandau sighed to himself. "Good help is so hard to find these days!"
*** As the Crusade powered away from the Zaibach floating fortress, Allen was very upset with Van's actions. "You weren't supposed to kill her! You were supposed to capture her!" The angry knight faced the impassive king.
Van just drank some wine. "She's better off dead anyway."
Allen stared at him. "Are you crazy? We need her to win this war!" His friend shrugged. "What's got into you? You were opposed to this plan yesterday!"
Van gave the blank look of a puppet. "I've found new truth."
A/N: Dun, dun, dun. What does Van mean by that? What's going to happen to Merle? Thank you Trio Maxwell for your ideas concerning her! What will happen next? Find out next time. On Escaflowne! And always review!